It was a Bermudaful Day so I Took a Cruise in Plumbago to 'Wreck Bay'

[bdahunter]

It was a Bermudaful day so I paddled out to my little fishing boat 'Plumbago' and slipped the mooring this afternoon. I headed out past the rocks in the middle of Mangrove Bay where Plumbago normally swings on her mooring and headed for Wreck Bay.
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Wreck Bay is at the base of Wreck Hill which was the home of the Wreckers who worked these waters for 200 years. They would arrange for the lighthouse light to be extinguished at Gibb's Hill, then light a bonfire on the top of Wreck Hill 5 miles away. Ships coming into Bermuda would make the turn past the dangerous reefs that surround these island 5 miles too late and wind up on the reef. The wreckers would row out from the safety of Wreck Bay and 'save' the hapless mariners who had run afoul of the reef. The wreckers would also liberate everything of value from the ship and the souls onboard her.(Wreckers or Pirates, you decide)
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I was hoping that the wreckers might have dropped a little of their loot in the bay for me to find today but no such luck. (I really want to find a gold escaudo in the bottom of my scoop one day) Wreck Bay was badly sanded in so I pulled the lunch hook out of the sand, fired up the motor and headed for the tiny beach at the Lantana Hotel, now closed for these past several years.
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I found 2 - 14k bands on my last trip here but it is a tiny beach so I felt I would be lucky to liberate any more gold from this hotel beach. I was right about the gold but little did I realize that another treasure was waiting for me.
My primary target when hunting is gold (and platinum of course) but today I found a treasure that didn't require a metal detector. When I landed on the beach at Lantana a swarm of blue bottle flies was covering a smallish rock where I had brought Plumbago's bow in. As I went up the beach to tie off, the flies took flight and a nasty stench assaulted my nose; I looked down and saw a beautiful but foul smelling Conch shell. The conch had been stranded above the rocks several tides ago by the smell of things but its' shell was shining in the afternoon sun. I rinsed out the rotting remains of the Conch and left it to soak while I went about hunting for another gold ring, it was not to be.
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I did find $2.07 of mostly 1960's clad and a 1922 King George V Large Penny but that was about it. The Conch was the big find of the day and it is a rare find indeed as the Conch is an endangered species in these waters. (too many conch fritters in the past) Seeing as the poor bugger was already dead I put the shell in the bottom of Plumbago and headed for home as the sun set behind me.
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All in all a Bermudaful day,

BDA

 

[cubfan64]

The story of "Wreck Bay" was definitely an interesting one - you'd think there HAS to be things there to be found, and I remember your finds from the little beach the first time as well.

How big is the conch shell? Do you have a picture of it in relation to something to show it's size?

Looks like you had a very nice day despite no gold.

 

[klopek]

Bda you got it pretty bad out there in Bermuda. I don't know how you stomach that aweful placeuke: JJ.
NIce hunt there. Sure glad you got your new camera. I thought about a new camera to take with me to take a few stunning shots of the Gulf of Mexico but I figured everyone new what YooHoo looked like.

 

[Gulf Hunter]

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[Diane]

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[Mat in MA]

It's always nice to hear some history about a place you've searched as well as the finds. The pictures of the conch shell look terrific with the green background and the red and white flowers flanking the sides. Great Job.

 

[GraveDiggerMax-VaBch-Va]

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[bdahunter]

Mr. Hayward in his book Bermuda Past and Present is responsible for the story of a rector of St. Ann's Church, who while neither a pirate nor a privateer, was the next thing to one - "a wrecker". When the trade of piracy lost its glory in the early 1700's, wrecking helped to take it's place. Bermudians would place lights on Wreck Hill to lure passing ships to their destruction, the distressed vessels were called 'lame ducks' and when one had made a dangerous landfall and drifted over the reefs she was quickly surrounded by whale boats and gigs, whose crews revelled in the prospect of 'salvage'.
Many an unfortunate skipper saved ship and cargo only to lose both in satisfying the claims of the wreckers. Bermuda quickly acquired an unsavoury reputation among mariners during this time.
To continue the story in Mr. Hayward's words:
The rector was preaching ferverntly one stormy Sunday morning when a man entered St. Ann's and whispered in the ears of several members of the congregation, who promptly reached for their hats. It did not take the rector long to descry signs of uneasiness and he paused to ask:
"John Smith, what are you saying to these people?"
"Parson, there's a lame duck on the south-west breakers!" John replied.
Sabbath piety, as the rector knew, must disappear under the circumstances and he remarked impassively:
"The congregation will remain seated until I take off my surplice, and then boys, we'll all start fair!"

Many fortunes have been made through, piracy, privateering and wrecking over the course of Bermuda's 500 year old history. The main leading families on this island going back to the early days of colonization, go by the telling moniker of 'The Forty Thieves'. With little by way of natural resources but a strategic location in the Gulf Stream along the Spanish Treasure Route it is little wonder that piracy has been so prevalent here in the past.
Teddy Tucker produced a map of Bermuda Shipwrecks some years ago it lists only a few of the over 450 wrecks that are to be found in these waters.

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Cheers,

BDA

 

[bdahunter]

Sounds good to me, Max! We can grab a bunch of Conch Fritters (imported conch of course) at the Swizzle Inn and then go for a hunt at Horseshoe Bay. You'll like the Swizzle Inn, their motto is 'Swizzle Inn and Swagger Out', the perfect pirate hangout.

Cheers Mate,

BDA

 

[bdahunter]

Hey Cubby: The conch shell is 7" x 5" and still very smelly when I measured it this morning. Time for another bath of bleach for the shell. It's amazing how much stink can come out of one shell.

Cheers mate,

BDA

 

[PaPa-Joe-Fla.]

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[GraveDiggerMax-VaBch-Va]

i make whai call clam fritters here..................similar - not as spicy

see ya

 

[cubfan64]

[quote bdahunter]Hey Cubby: The conch shell is 7" x 5" and still very smelly when I measured it this morning. Time for another bath of bleach for the shell. It's amazing how much stink can come out of one shell.

Cheers mate,

BDA[/quote]

Excellent - I always thought conch shells were pretty large and that one sounds like a beauty - at least once it's aired out

 

[JoeSWFLA]

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[Mat in MA]

Swizzle Inn -- Stopped there on our tour. Man do they make a powerful drink. WOW ! Everybody was saying how strong the drinks were, they couldn't chug them.

 

[bdahunter]

Spent a few years on this island, Mat, and those drinks start to taste like water. The Rum Swizzle is tricky though as it tastes like fruit punch but kicks like a mule if you aren't careful with your consumption.

Cheers,

BDA

 

[mattockman]

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